Conventional computerized devices, such as personal computers, laptop computers, and the like utilize graphical user interfaces in applications such as operating systems and graphical editors (i.e., web page editors, document editors, etc.) that enable users to quickly provide input and create documents and/or projects using “What You See Is What You Get” (WYSIWYG) technology. In general, using a graphical user interface, a user operates an input device such as a mouse or keyboard to manipulate graphical objects (i.e., radio buttons, check boxes, form fields, drop down menus, etc) on a computer display. The graphical objects are often represented as icons and the user can operate an input device such as a mouse to move a mouse pointer onto an icon (i.e., graphically overlapping the icon) on the graphical user interface. By depressing a mouse button, the application such as the operating system desktop selects the icon and if the user maintains the mouse button in a depressed state, the user can drag the icon across the graphical user interface. By releasing the mouse button, the icon is placed on the graphical user interface at the current position of the mouse pointer.
Most conventional document editors also allow users to create a document, or form, with areas that are editable by a user. For example, a form (whether a paper form or an electronic form) can have check boxes or radio buttons for a user to select, or form fields for to fill with information. Forms can be used (and may be required) to open bank accounts, apply for credit cards, apply for a job, file taxes, etc. Once a form is created using a form editor, the editor or another software program can be used to allow users to complete or “fill out” the form. This process entails the user visiting each field of the form and providing the requested information.
To assist users in completing form fields of a form, conventional software applications sometimes provide a “wizard” that “walks” (i.e., prompts) the user, usually in a step-by-step or field by field manner, through each of the form fields and allows the user to enter data for those fields. As the user progresses through the wizard, the wizard uses the data provided by the user to populate the various form fields of the form for which the wizard is designed. A wizard can have one or more panels (e.g. screens, dialog boxes or pop-up windows) that provide instructional help in an application, system development environment, form, etc. For example, a sequence of wizard panels can guide a user in completing a complex form, for example, by displaying a series of multiple-choice questions to which the user responds via graphical selections or other data entry into the graphical user interface. The wizard can use the data input from the user to populate the form. The form can then be printed, saved to storage, transmitted, etc, depending upon the purpose or application associated with the form.
Wizards can be of enormous help by providing additional information to the user to assist in obtaining the most accurate information for correct completion of a form. As an example, wizards can be an efficient method of obtaining information for a form in that data that is repetitively entered into a form can be collected once via a wizard, and populated in the form multiple times. A form wizard thus removes the sometimes daunting task of a user completing a form on their own by prompting the user for data for each field in a more controlled and sequenced presentation that can provide supplemental information to the user to indicate, for example, data formats or purposes of each form field, detailed field instructions, and the like.